Swedish police shoot man threatening people at train station

Jun 10, 2019 | 4:19 AM

STOCKHOLM — Swedish police officers shot and wounded a man who was banging a bag on the ground and claiming to have a bomb at a train station Monday, authorities and a witness said.

Police were alerted just after 10 a.m. that a man was behaving in a menacing way at the central station in the southern city of Malmo.

One witness, Fernando Valarino, said he was at the station waiting for a train when he saw a tall, bald white man in a dark purple raincoat banging a duffel bag on the ground.

Valarino said the man appeared to be about 30 and “I thought initially that it was a crazy person.” At first he couldn’t make out what the man was saying but then heard him yell “I’ve got a bomb.”

Valarino said he saw station employees remove people from the area before police arrived.

“He tried to run, and shots were fired. I definitely heard three shots, but maybe there were four,” Valarino, a 25-year-old resident of Malmo, told The Associated Press by phone.

Police were quoted by the TT news agency as saying that officers had no choice but to shoot him because of his behaviour.

He was taken to a hospital with injuries, and nobody else was reportedly hurt. His condition wasn’t immediately known.

Evelina Olsson, a police spokeswoman, said a bomb squad was deployed to the station.

The Associated Press